Year: 2017

A 41-year-old man succumbed to his injuries at the Georgetown Public Hospital on Tuesday morning after he was badly beaten with a piece of wood by a group of men on Sunday. Balwan Ramsarran, called “Fry”, a father of two, was allegedly the victim of a revenge attack. The incident reportedly occurred around 17:30h as Ramsarran was consuming alcohol at a rum shop in the Herstelling Squatting Area. He was approached by a well-known group of young men, who would usually taunt him whenever he was drunk. However, he refused…

The Guyana Government recorded a fiscal deficit of G$31.7 billion for the year 2016, approximately 4.4 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is according to the Finance Ministry’s End-of-Year outcome report, which was released on April 13. The report noted that the deficit was smaller than the expected G$38.4 billion, or 5.4 per cent of GDP, which had been projected during the presentation of the 2017 Budget. The report put this difference down to lower expenditures. “The smaller-than-projected deficit was due to lower expenditures, particularly current…

Opposition Leader, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has indicated that he is one step closer to submitting a new list of nominees to President David Granger for his consideration for the post of Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). Jagdeo, at a press conference on Tuesday, at Freedom House, disclosed to media operatives that the consultations with the shortlisted persons have already begun and he expects to conclude this process soon. However, he asserted that he does not want to pronounce on a specific time since discussions with some candidates might…

…with cuffs still on After months of hunting for the fugitive driver involved in the fatal accident of former Courts Manager Chandanie Dass, Police on the Essequibo Coast last week managed to apprehend the now 21-year-old driver, Nicklous Singh. Acting on a tip-off, Police ranks nabbed the suspect at his parents’ home in Annandale Village, Essequibo Coast. He was arrested by ranks attached to Police G Division (Essequibo Coast and Islands), and handcuffed. However, he escaped from custody with the handcuffs still on and is once again on the run.…

…as money laundering probe widens As the investigation into the alleged G$956M bank fraud by Saddiqi ‘Bobby’ Rasul widens, the Special Organised Crimes Unit (SOCU) yesterday arrested the gold dealer after he turned himself into the unit yesterday. Two of his employees were also taken into custody for questioning. Information reaching Guyana Times International revealed that the two employees were taken into custody following the discovery of several illegal firearms and ammunition, documents and a vehicle allegedly belonging to the embattled gold dealer. A source related that the raids were…

Tormented and ‘fed-up’ of his wife, an Essequibo mechanic decided to act on his numerous reported threats to kill her in the early hours of Wednesday morning when he dealt her several chops about the body as she lay sleeping. He then consumed poison in an effort to take his own life. The woman, Melissa Durga, a mother of three who hailed from Abrams Creek in Lower Pomeroon, but was presently residing at Walton Hall on the Essequibo Coast in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) was awakened around 04:30h on Wednesday by…

Aruba Airlines on Wednesday presented its formal application to the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) seeking permission to operate out of Guyana, according to Captain Gerry Gouveia. The revelation was made at the inaugural Annual General Meeting of the National Air Transport Association (NATA). Captain Gouveia, the Vice President of NATA, also noted that search and rescue operations remained a serious concern for local aviation operators, since there were no systems in place to deal with those operations. “It is unfortunate that we almost always respond spontaneously to these things…